Pavlik V'S Taylor 2: The Rematch!

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik. Not just because he beat the hell out of Jermain Taylor last September, but becasue he is from Youngstown, Ohio. I live about 50 miles south of Youngstown and have been there many times in my life. He is just a plain white boy from a hard-working-class town in Ohio. Kelly Pavlik is a fighter from every aspect of the word.

This fight tonight is huge for boxing. Not just Pavlik or Taylor, but the entire boxing community. There hasn't been this much excitement surrounding a pay-per-view fight in quite some time. With the way MMA is taking the world by storm, boxing needs this fight and needs it to be good. I need it to be good. I want to be excited about boxing again. I never used to miss a Mike Tyson fight, but since that excitement has left the sport, so have I and many others. If it wasn't for Pavlik being an Ohio fighter, I probably still wouldn't be an avid fan.

Kelly Pavlik needs to do what he did in the first fight and hunt Taylor, stalk him, corner him. Throw his one, two combinations. Obviously, use his deadly right hand, but I think he will need to throw more upercuts and body shots this fight because I am sure Jermain Taylor will be waiting on the jabs and right hand. He wasn't last fight and paid for it. He needs to keep Taylor back on his heels and not taunt him and put his guard down. Kelly did that last fight and went to the canvas. If he does that again tonight, Taylor will finish him off this time.

Jermain Taylor needs to take the fight to Pavlik and respect Kelly's right hand and jabs. Stay on his toes, attack Pavlik and make him box. Taylor can't afford to let Pavlik back him into the ropes all night long, he needs to make Pavlik stay in the middle of the ring and box, not fight, but box.

In the end, it doesn't matter what Taylor does because the Ghost will beat him down again in 10. I hope for all of us boxing fans that this fight lives up to the hype. I watched the September fight simply because it was a hometown boy from just up the road, but I was amazed to see a great fight. This time I will watch becasue I want to see a good fight and I want to see the Ghost continue to put Ohio on the map for boxing and not football. Besides, Pavlik does have some awesome trunks. (Ohio State football colors - looks like the helmet)